The USA Patriot Act is headed toward renewal with broad Senate support for a White House-brokered compromise that adds modest new civil liberties protections to the terror-fighting law. “The outcome here is absolutely predetermined,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said late Wednesday. “It’s going to pass with overwhelming support.” With even senior Democrats lining up behind the measure, its lone opponent, Sen. Russell Feingold, was preparing amendments he said would strengthen its curbs on government power. Congress is racing to renew 16 provisions of the law that are set to expire March 10. During the process, Feingold, D-Wis., was trying to attach an amendment to set a four-year expiration date on the use of National Security Letters — demands for records issued by administrators — under the Patriot Act, according to a spokesman. All who wrote, supported or enforce this S O B Patriot Act should be charged with Treason. They are the real enemies of our freedom ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Europe's gas and electricity industries face a crackdown on anti-competitive behaviour, Brussels has warned. Outlining the initial findings of an investigation into the sectors, European Union competition boss Neelie Kroes said the industry must open up. Without naming any companies at this stage, Ms Kroes said a number of firms now faced separate investigations. She urged energy businesses to look at their own practices and make any necessary changes. The probe, which started last summer, looked at whether energy firms on the continent had colluded to keep prices high. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4718776.stm

People in southern Somalia are starting to die from thirst in the worst drought in over 40 years in some parts of the country, says aid agency Oxfam. Oxfam says assessment teams found seven people who died of dehydration, and that tens of thousands are now at risk. People are surviving on the equivalent of three glasses of water a day, in temperatures of over 40C (100F). Oxfam reports an almost unprecedented situation, where people beg for water along the sides of the road. All surface water has gone, boreholes are running dry, and people are walking up to 70km (45 miles) in search of water. The 830 ml available per person per day has to be used for drinking, cooking and washing. "The situation is as bad as I can remember. Some people are dying and children are drinking their own urine because there is simply no water available for them to drink," Somali village elder Abdullahi Maalim Hussein told Oxfam. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4719296.stm

Israel's Defense Ministry recommended on Thursday barring all Palestinians from working in Israel and from traveling between Gaza and the West Bank once a Hamas-led parliament is sworn in, government officials said. The ministry also recommended that Israel squeeze the Palestinian Authority financially by immediately stopping all tax revenue transfers and by exerting pressure on international donors to freeze all but humanitarian assistance. The proposed crackdown, which acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was expected to consider on Friday, would take effect next week after Hamas becomes the majority party in the Palestinian parliament. Israel's goal would be to undermine Hamas, winner of the January 25 Palestinian election, and increase pressure on the Islamic militant group to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state....http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1627155

Iraq's human rights minister called on U.S.-led forces on Thursday to hand over all Iraqi inmates at U.S.-run prisons to the Iraqi government, a day after more damaging images of prisoner abuse emerged. "We are very worried about the Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib," Zuhair al-Chalabi told Reuters. "The multinational forces and the British forces should hand them over to the (Iraqi) government." "This is a very dangerous issue that the Iraqi government should review," said Chalabi, who was nominated as minister last year but whose appointment has not been ratified as the parliament elected in December has not yet convened. "The Iraqi government should move immediately to have the prisons and the prisoners delivered to the ministry of justice." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1627156

A Thai court has refused to open an inquiry into claims Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke conflict of interest rules. A group of 28 senators had alleged Mr Thaksin kept control of his family's telecoms giant, Shin Corp, after he sold his shares to his family in 2001. The court ruled eight to six against an inquiry, citing inadequate evidence. Mr Thaksin has faced calls to resign since his family sold its stake in the company last month. The sale, which netted the family members and others $1.9bn, has angered many urban Thais, who complained the family avoided paying tax and passed control of an important national asset to Singaporean investors. One of the judges, Jumpol na Songkhla, told Reuters news agency that the allegations - that Mr Thaksin influenced government policy to help the company he built - were not detailed enough. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4718700.stm